Breadcrumb

Congress and the Executive Branch: Balancing Power

Article I, Section 1, of the Constitution declares that “all legislative Powers” are “vested in a Congress of the United States.”

Congress is the central law-making body to which the executive and judicial branches respond. Congress writes and debates the laws that govern the United States, and it can override presidential vetoes. The Senate’s advice-and-consent power over treaties and both chambers’ important role in amending the Constitution also indicate the legislature’s essential role in the nation’s representative government.